What do "A Time for Choosing" by Ronald Reagan and "Daddy's Philosophy" by Jim Hightower have in common?

These two pieces do not have that much in common because
Hightower's is a short anecdote whereas Reagan's is a relatively long speech covering a
lot of different topics.  But what they both have in common is the idea that people
should take care of themselves without expecting the government to help
them.

Hightower extols the way that his father set up a
Little League on his own rather than expecting the government to do things for him. 
Reagan criticizes people for relying on the government to help them out.  These are two
sides of the same idea  -- that people should rely on themselves
more.

The most telling quote from Reagan's speech
is

This is the
issue of this election: whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or
whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite
in a far-distant capitol can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them
ourselves.

He is saying that
the governments that are closer to the people are better.  That idea implies that the
people, and not the government, know best and that the people, therefore, should rely on
themselves rather than building up a large government and relying on
it.